ORANGE, Texas, July 27, 2009 - Antique jewelry and the women who wore it will be the focus of jeweler Amy J. Lawch's lecture presentation,
Diamonds, Dog Collars and Divas: Fine Antique and Period Jewelry from the Victorian to Edwardian Period, hosted by The W.H. Stark House. The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place Monday, August 17 at 6:30 p.m. at the Lutcher Theater, 707 Main Street, Orange, Texas.
Lawch will explore the jewelry made popular during the years 1899-1917, known as the Edwardian Period in England or the Belle Epoque in France, and she will discuss three distinct types of jewelry: Late Victorian/Edwardian popularized by Queen Victoria, Princess Alexandra and Tsarina Alexandra; Art Nouveau worn by Sarah Bernhardt; and Arts and Crafts jewelry worn by The Pankhursts and Emily Flöge. Lawch's PowerPoint presentation will highlight these different types of jewelry and the women who wore them, as well as extend to various fashion styles from the same periods.
Lawch is the owner of A.A. Benjamin, Ltd., a Houston-based jewelry and appraising business focused on antique and estate jewelry. A graduate gemologist with a specialization in antique and period jewelry, Lawch frequently lectures on jewelry and the auction process. She is also an accredited appraiser and is actively involved in the International Society of Appraisers, The Society of Jewelry Historians and the Gemological Institute of America Alumni Association. Lawch and her jewelry business have been the subject of articles in
Town and Country magazine and numerous other publications, and she has described her Edwardian and Victorian exhibitions on TV to Houston's buzzlady, Roseann Rogers.
Following Lawch's presentation, a reception will take place on the third floor of the Lutcher Theater. Visitors will have the opportunity to meet Lawch and enjoy light refreshments.
For more information, please visit whstarkhouse.org or call 409.883.0871.
Amy J. Lawch
About The W.H. Stark House
The W.H. Stark House is a Victorian landmark in Orange, Texas, which has been restored to its original splendor.
The 14,000 square-foot home was completed in 1894 in Orange, Texas, by William Henry Stark and his wife, Miriam M. Lutcher Stark, prominent philanthropists who occupied the home until 1936. Designed in the Queen Anne architectural style, the house features a distinctive turret, stained glass windows, and ornate woodwork in cypress and long leaf yellow pine.
Today, the three-story structure stands much as it did at the turn of the 20th century, with fifteen rooms of original family furnishings, personal effects and decorative arts, including antique rugs, original textiles, silver, cut glass and antique porcelain. Also featured are the W.H. Stark family's impressive collections of American Brilliant Period cut glass, pressed and pattern glass, milk glass, porcelains, and other 18th and 19th century decorative accessories. The interior of both The W.H. Stark House and its adjacent Carriage House depicts the home life of the W.H. Starks in the early 1900s and provides an extraordinary statement of Texas' social history.
The W.H. Stark House is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and designated as a Record Texas Historic Landmark by the Texas Historical Commission. It is operated as a program of the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation, a private foundation established in 1961 by H.J. Lutcher Stark - the only surviving child of Miriam M. and W.H. Stark - and his wife, Nelda C. Stark. Other programs of the Stark Foundation include the Stark Museum of Art, Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center, and the Frances Ann Lutcher Theater for the Performing Arts.